Fire kindler



Oct 5, 1937." R. L'M AY 5M v 2,094,661

FIRE KINDLER Filed Feb. 27, 1935 I N V EN TORS Radar/chi. /%b/ Patented Oct. 5, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FIRE KINDLER Roderick L. Macleay and George W. Houk,

Portland, Oreg.

Application February 27, 1935, Serial No. 8,530

length, of time--which we believe should be approximately 10 minu tes.-to insure the ignition of the fuel pile, and the kindler stick being substantially consumed with the burning of the fuel; 15 and the flame of the stick to be non-odorous and non-sooty. y

We have foundthat further essential character istics of a firev kindler ,are, the kindler must be proof against spontaneous combustion, so asto 20 have no inherent fire hazard; and also the kindler must be moisture repellent soas to keep in good condition in storage.

' pregnating combustible material, to prevent deterioration and emission of offensive odors, must 25 not be volatile. and also must not be oily, or sticky to the touch,sor soiling to the hands.

We have discovered that the desired article may efiiciently be produced by fabricating in the first place a porous body composed of short, cellulose 30 fiber coarsely felted into a porous, but yet firm mass not tending to crumbleor flake in handling or transportation, therefore not requiring protective wrapping; and having ample porosity so that it is capable of holding a predetermined 35 weight of liquid; and then effecting the interstitial charging of the body with a liquefied, inflammable material, having the property of being solid at normal atmospheric or room temperatures, but readily ignited by the application thereto of a 40 small flame. Preferably we use for the charge of inflammable material one of the paraffin series of hydrocarbons, such as a low grade parafim wax, relatively inexpensive, which will retain solid consistency at normal atmospheric temperatures;

45 and, while readily ignitible, has no tendency towards spontaneous combustion. Paraffin wax also will not exude from the surfaces of the kindler stick while in storage. This is an important feature for since these fire kindler sticks will be 50 shipped and stored in pastboard cartons, if the kindler impregnating material did exude from the surfaces it would eventually impregnate the Walls of the carton, and thus create a fire hazard.

We have discovered that it is important to have 55 the fire kindler of substantial length. The length Furthermore, the im- 7 of the-kindling stick tends to distribute theflame. over a relatively large area of, the fuel with which it is in contact, and thus assures speedier ignition of .the whole fuel pile.- .Wehave found it convenient, for example,.to make our kindler ap- 5 proximately 1 foot long, and of relatively small cross section. f E

It is also important that the fire kindler burn along its entire length for a predetermined length of time sufiicient to assure the ignition of the usual fuel pile.

One mode of producing our fire kindler consists of the following steps: It is assumed that the fire kindler body is made by the coarse felting of cellulose fibers, somewhat similarly as done in the'paper making art, thus producing a very porous body whose interstices are capable of holding up to its own weight of paraifin wax in its liquid state. This will assure that our fire kindler stick, having the dimensions stated, will continue to burn for at least 10 minutes, which we have found ample to ignite any fuel pile.

First, we expel, to a great extent, the air entrapped in the interstices of the-fire kindler body by heating the latter; then we immediately immersethe body, while still hot, in a bath of liquefied parafiin wax, to cause the kindler body to absorb the required amount of the paraffin wax, regulating the quantity with which the body is so interstitially charged relatively, according to the length of time the kindler stick is designed to burn. For the carrying out of these steps we use such instrumentalities as expedient. I

For the purpose of illustrating convenient types of apparatuses for carrying into practice each of the above indicated modes of producing our fire kindler, we refer to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 represents diagrammatically an elevation with parts in section of an apparatus for carrying our invention into practice by the immersing process above mentioned.

Fig. 2 is a drawing in perspective illustrating one end of the finished fire kindler.

Referring now to Fig. 1 which shows one practical mode of charging the preformed fibrous sheet with the required volume of paraffin wax:-'-

a is an oven in which sheets b of fibrous material forming the porous body of our kindling sticks are preliminarily heated so as to expel, to a great extent, the air and moisture which these pieces hold in their interstices; it being understood that suitable means for heating the interior of the oven a are provided, altho not shown. The sheets I) are carried from the oven a on a 56 conveyor (1 to a tank in which is contained parafiin wax p maintained in a liquefied consistency by the steam coil 0 supplied from a steam heating system 0. After having been dipped in the tank p, the sheets b are then placed on a conveyor d within the housing 2. The air in this housing is maintained at a sufficiently high temperature to keep the paraffin wax in a liquid state by means of a suitable hot air blower indicated by c2, the temperature being regulated by thermostats e. The sheets, individually indicated by b are then moved by the conveyor d provided with cleats f, between a series of pairs of squeeze rolls, indicated by h and h, for the purpose of squeezing out excess paraffin; the excess paraffin is also leached out while the sheets 17' are passing thru the housing e. The excess of the charge of paraflin wax leached out from the sheets b in the housing e flows along the bottom of the latter back into the tank 2' by a spout s. The conveyor d discharges the sheets b thru an end-opening g of the housing e onto an inclined second conveyor 1', inclosed by a housing i, the atmosphere in which housing is chilled thru the medium of a suitable cold air blower, indicated by a. The ends of the second conveyor housing 1 may be closed by canvas flaps, as indicated at k and k.

The conveyor 1' discharges the impregnated sheets I) into a hopper m, the bottom of which opens to a third conveyor n, which carries the sheets of impregnated material to a battery of saws o, by which the sheets are then sawed into desired widths so as to form of each sheet of treated material a plurality of kindling sticks of approximately 1 foot long and of small crosssection, and impregnated with a definite amount of paraffin wax equal in weight approximately to the weight of the fibrous body of the stick. The sawing of the block into sticks produces along its sawed faces fuzzy surfaces, as plainly seen with the naked eye, and this fuzz functions similarly to myriads of tiny wicks, diagrammatically indicated by dots in Fig. 2, which fuzz or tiny wicks are readily ignited--provided the impregnation of the fibrous block is just with the right quantity of paraffin wax, that is, approximately equal in weight to the weight of the fibrous body making up the stick, leaving a dry surface-and when ignited liquefy and absorb by capillarity the paraffin held by the pores of the stick, and thus cause the efficient burning of the kindler. A fire kindler stick made as mentioned will produce a flame which will burn continuously for approximately 10 minutes, ample in heat generated and duration of heat to ignite any fuel pile as usually laid. The dust resulting from the sawing operation is disposed of by means of a spout q.

In Figure 2, an end of the completed kindler stick t is shown, the kindler stick being assumed to have been sawed from a sheet 12 inches long, 12 inches wide, and /2 an inch thick, giving the kindler stick the dimensions of 12 inches long, 1 inch wide and inch thick, which we consider to be the most convenient and practical size for general use. In this figure the felted cellulose fibers are indicated diagrammatically by v, and w indicates the marks made by the revolving circular saws in the sawing of the kindler stick from the impregnated sheet of fibrous material.

In our opinion, the use of paraffin wax for the impregnation of our kindler sticks 'is the most weight of paraffin wax and its faces having fibrous ll fuzz, the paraffin being held entirely absorbed by the body so as to leave the faces of the kindler body substantially dry, the fibrous fuzz of the faces functioning as tiny wicks, whereby the kindler stick is readily ignited, the kindler stick, 3

when ignited, burning continuously with a substantially non-smoky flame for a predetermined period.

2. A fire kindler stick, consisting of a body fabricated of loosely felted cellulose'fiber, approximately 12 inches long and of small'cross section, the body holding by absorption approximately its own weight of paraffin wax and its faces having fibrous fuzz, the paraffin being held entirely absorbed by the body so as to leave the faces of the kindler body substantially dry, the fibrous fuzz of the faces functioning as tiny wicks, whereby the kindler stick is readily ignited, the kindler stick, When ignited, burning continuously with a substantially non-smoky flame for a predetermined period.

- RODERICK L. MACLEAY.

GEORGE W. HOUK. 

